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Black Powder

I have been a black powder shooter for more than thirty years and have an assortment of rifles, shotguns, fowlers, pistols and revolvers - something for all occasions. I've built a few from components obtained from Track of The Wolf such as this .54 Hawken. Also made the horn and pouch. I have always enjoyed shooting black powder guns and have dabbled a bit in BP cartridge guns also. I got a 45/70 sharps after the Quigley movie came out and have had a ball with it. Its more accurate than most folks would believe. Part of Stueben County here in NYS is potato growing country and there are fields that stretch out maybe 1500 yards long. In the Springtime those fields make for great long range shooting. Those big 500 grain Sharps bullets take a long time to cover the distance. But its fun to watch the dust rise up when they hit.

I shot my first BP rifle in 1970. When I was finally big enough to suppor the weight of the loooooonnnnnng barrel, 13 pound kentucky rifle that had been in the family for 200 years.
We also had a Hopkins and Allen .45 underhammer buggy rifle that was amazing. light, short, fast handling, and accurate.
Currently I have a collection of Colt cap and ball revolvers. a 3rd model dragoon with the detachable rifle stock, an 1860 army, a navy, and a sweet 5 shot 1848 pocket model
I don't shoot them much because it is very difficult to optain the powder where I live.

Have you ever found a colt pattern ( rear sight in the hammer nose ) that didn't shoot high? I had a Uberti 32 cal 1848 a while back and it shot a foot high. I also have a dragoon that I ground the hammer and reformed the sight notch until I could put 'em in the black. It shoots conicals very well, but its a hefty thing to carry.

"Trade Guns" were essentially single shot shotguns - smooth bore flintlocks capable of digesting a handful of shot or large caliber round balls depending on the intended game. They had an over-sized trigger guard permitting them to be fired while wearing mittens and a serpent shaped side plate. They are quite popular at rendezvous these days.